Bookseller Falls Short Of Estimates

Published: August 23, 2002

Barnes & Noble Inc., the book retailer, reported second-quarter earnings yesterday of $1.43 million and said profit for the year would be less than expected.

Net income of 2 cents a share in the quarter ended Aug. 3 included wider-than-expected investment losses, the company said.

Analysts had forecast a profit of 10 cents, according to Thomson First Call.

The retailer had a net loss of $1.69 million, or 3 cents, in the period a year ago.

Total sales for the latest quarter increased 10 percent, to $1.16 billion, from $1.05 billion a year ago, Barnes & Noble said.

Second-quarter earnings included losses of 15 cents a share from investments in a magazine and other businesses, Barnes & Noble said. The results also included the company's 60 percent stake in the GameStop video-game chain and its 36 percent interest in BarnesandNoble.com.

The chief financial officer, Larry Zilavy, said Barnes & Noble was trying to control its inventory and expenses amid concerns about consumer spending.

Profit excluding certain costs is expected to be $1.76 a share for the year, the company said, in contrast to an earlier estimate of $1.90. Second-half sales at stores open at least a year will also be less than forecast.

Shares of Barnes & Noble fell 50 cents, to $22.93.

Barnes & Noble said that sales at stores open at least a year were expected to rise 2 percent to 3 percent. The company had forecast a gain of 4 percent to 5 percent.

''Traffic is not as robust as we would like it to be,'' Mr. Zilavy said.

Barnes & Noble plans to attract customers, he said, with new book titles in the fall, including ''Leadership'' by former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York and ''In Search of America'' by Peter Jennings, the ABC News anchor.

A new distribution center in Reno, Nev., executives said, is helping Barnes & Noble to stock more books, fill shelves more quickly and cut the time on special-order purchases.

Second-quarter profit for the Barnes & Noble and B. Dalton Bookseller stores fell to 20 cents a share from 21 cents. Sales at Barnes & Noble bookstores increased 6.6 percent, to $823.9 million, the company said, while sales at stores open at least a year rose 0.3 percent.

At the B. Dalton chain, sales declined 14 percent, to $58.9 million, and sales at stores open at least a year dropped 3.7 percent.